[center][img]http://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjE0Mi5iYTU3MDguVG1samIyeGxkSFJoSUZScGVtbGhibUVnVTI5eWFXRnVidywsLjAA/mrs-saint-delafield.regular.png[/img]

Had the school week really gone by so suddenly? Nicoletta had hardly noticed; and she figured everyone else around her hadn't noticed her either. Not that she was interested in standing out, but after the carnival on the first day and the subsequent school year starting, Nicoletta started at a high and had dropped back down to a low. She had been quiet for the week. Quiet to the point where she had to explain to her parents why the school called home to comment on her absences. It wasn't her fault some teachers couldn't hear her. She was seated near the back and her voice just...didn't carry. 

A week of staying quiet, being studious, and making no friends. One down. How many more to go? Nicoletta was worried, internally, that this would be the cycle for the rest of the year. For the remaining four years even. All around her people were getting to know each other. Had made friends. Had made weekend plans. Nicoletta's weekend plan was to not leave her room and tell herself that it'll get better. Easier. Which was making her sad even thinking about it. 

Even now, when she was placed in a group for a project, she felt like the outsider. Here her groupmates were discussing plans and methods to complete the project and all she did was sit there, quietly, and wonder who would say anything if she just got up and walked away. Of course she wouldn't, that would be rude, but the thought had crossed her mind. 

One of the group members spoke funnily, Nicoletta thought. Who used the word jive anymore? Maybe it was some new thing that she didn't understand, Nicoletta didn't comment on it and kept her thoughts to herself. Something she had become increasingly good at. Two others were excited about building it while one exclaimed that they had supplies and another had a location to use. 

And then there was Nicoletta. What did she bring to the project? Her charming and winning personality? Her meekness? Her crippling insecurities? Wonderful things to bring to a group project, things that would really help earn a passing grade. 

[color=sandybrown]"Um...."[/color] Nicoletta spoke up for what seemed like the first time in days, though she kept her gaze pointed downwards all the same, [color=sandybrown]"I don't...um...have supplies or anything...but if we're working on this thing....um...together...I can...um....m...maybe get my dad to...cater something for us? Can't...can't work on...on just snacks and soda...right? I mean...I...I'll help with anything...I just...I can't offer much."[/color] 

Nicoletta spoke fast, and she spoke gently, and when she was through she looked as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Baby steps.[/center]


~

[center][img]http://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/b3RmLjE0Mi5mNjFlM2MuUTJGemN5QlNiM2RzWlhrLC4w/endless-bummer.regular.png[/img]


People probably assumed that Cass had managed to get herself expelled. When last people even saw her, she was shouting at staff members at the carnival, hiding behind such threats as [color=firebrick]"YOU CAN'T GIVE ME DETENTION, BUCKTOOTHED ASS, SCHOOL ISN'T EVEN STARTED YET"[/color] and other, far more colorful words. Some students were spreading rumors. Cass got suspended. Cass got expelled. Cass this and Cass that. While it was true that Cass hadn't been seen on school grounds the first week, it wasn't due to suspension, expulsion, or even, as many assumed was the truth, Cass just saying "fuck it" and not showing up. 

[color=firebrick]"You worry too much,"[/color] Cass spoke in a lighter tone as she rolled her eyes. [color=firebrick]"What happened at the carnival wasn't because of this."[/color] 

At the carnival, Cass ducked out, away from the crowds and the students; most assumed it was to go have a smoke, and while she DID, she didn't get more than a few drags before she found herself on the ground, face down in the dirt, discovered by a janitor who got in touch with the proper experts. 

The proper experts, in this case, being Cass' mother. 

[color=firebrick]"I hadn't eaten. Didn't have time to cook and your shitass food is not fit for any human."[/color] Cass was playing it off, but this was the fifth day that her mother had had Cass stay home. Cass hated it. She hated school, yes, but at least school let you walk around and talk to people; being forced to stay at home was like being incarcerated. A prison sentence. 

She didn't even want to think about all the homework that she'd be missing. And that she, of course, wouldn't do anyway. 

[color=orange]"I should pull you out, Cassandra. You don't want another-"[/color]

[color=firebrick]"I'm FINE, Mom. You're just a doctor. I know my body better than you. I wanna go to school."[/color]

Jane Rowley looked at her daughter with a look that silently called Cass on the bullshit of that statement. [color=firebrick]"What? It's more fun than whatever the fuck this is."[/color]

[color=orange]"Language."[/color]

[color=firebrick]"Really? Of all the things going on? Look, just let me go next week, okay? It'll be fine. The teachers and students probably think it's going to be quiet. I need to change that."[/color]

[color=orange]"Fine....fine. But if it happens again, you're out."[/color]


[color=firebrick]"Come on, ma....live a little."[/color]

Cass smirked at her words and rolled onto her side. Another day stuck inside four walls. At least she had her fish to keep her company. What was going on at Arrowsmith, she wondered. It might've been the one and only time she genuinely cared about school. Anything to keep her mind off of the present situation.[/center]